GRAHAM Polak will play for Richmond this week in his first serious game since his near-fatal collision with a tram last year.

Polak has been named in the team to take on St Kilda at Shepparton on Friday night and is expected to play about 60 per cent of the match.

The24-year-old  had a brief run in the Richmond intra-club match in February and has had some game time for Coburg, but has not played a game since he sustained brain injuries when he was hit by a tram in June last year.

Richmond football operations manager Ross Monaghan said Polak’s recovery from the injury had been quicker than hoped and he was ready for competitive football.

“It’s much sooner than expected,” Monaghan said.

“He’s moving okay, he’s feeling okay and he’s recovering from training sessions much better.

“He’s been playing bits of VFL practice matches that they’ve had in the last couple of weeks.

“We think it’s a good opportunity for him to have a run around and enjoy himself because he’s come a long way from what was a pretty serious injury.”

Polak had been training with the club for much of the pre-season but had struggled to complete sessions and recover from them.

But Monaghan said his progress over the last few weeks had been astounding.

“The main issue he had for some time before Christmas and immediately after Christmas was his fatigue levels. He trained a fair bit at sessions but would get really fatigued,” he said.

“He really progressed through that in late January and early February to the point where he could do most things that the other players were doing. Now he’s got to the stage where he seems to be getting through most days pretty well.

“He’s not entirely back to being 100 per cent by no means. He’s at the stage where everyone’s quite comfortable for him to have a run around against quality opposition.”